


Dibs

by Livya



Category: Frozen (2013), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Anna & Elsa are Not Related, Elsa (Disney) & Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians) are Siblings, Hiccelsa, Hijack, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, no jelsa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-12 17:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9083002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livya/pseuds/Livya
Summary: Elsa and Jack are twins, and had been separated until two years ago. Now, they've gotten used to the addition of another sibling, and are each crushing for the first time.Bad news: they like the same guy.Worse news: he has no idea.And for some reason, Jack has decided that it would be a great idea to turn it into a competition...
I'm sorry, I suck at summaries.





	1. Chapter 1 - Elsa

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize if this sucks, it's my first time publishing anything on this site.  
> But anyway, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Jino = Tooth in Swahili

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OK, sorry, when I first posted this it cut off the last part of the chapter for some reason. So, this is it! I will be updating it soon, hopefully this week. I apologise for any mistakes, or if this is the worst thing you've ever read, but please do enjoy nonetheless.

_“Elsa, stop!”_  
_“Anna!”_  
_“Don’t touch me!”_  
_“Mama, Papa!”_

Elsa sat up abruptly, breathing heavily. Her usually pristine hair stuck up in pale blonde clumps, a few stray tendrils falling forwards into her wide blue eyes. The room was silent, except for the ragged, tear-filled gasps of breath that failed to calm her down.

“Elsa?”

She winced, and turned towards the door. A freckle-spattered nose and worried eyes poked through the gap, light spilling from the landing into her room. A single ginger plait fell down the side, the distinctive white strand twisting through the braid. Elsa sighed heavily, and swung her legs out of bed. “Come in, Anna.”

The light flickered on, filling the room with pale blue light. Anna slipped inside, smiling nervously. “Punzie wants us to have a mini-sleepover, to say goodbye.”

“A sleepover?” Elsa repeated, running a hand through her hair tiredly. “Anna, we already live in the same house.”

“You know what I meant!” Slowly, the usual confidence in Anna’s voice returned, replacing the worry from earlier. “We’re braiding each other’s hair, watching movies, eating popcorn… come join us!”

“I’d really rather not.” She turned her back, fighting the rising lump in her throat. She could not cry, she had to be alone… always alone, Elsa, or you’ll hurt them… again.

“But sis…”

“I’m not your sister.” Her voice was sharp and cold, and she refused to meet the younger girl’s eyes. “Not really. I have my own family, my own brother, a real sister...” she slowly broke off when she realised how cruel she was sounding, then hardened her already breaking heart. “I’m sorry, Anna. But I’d like to be alone now.”

“Elsa – “

“Go away Anna!”

“Okay…” Despite having her back turned, Elsa could practically see the girl’s heart sink, shoulders slump, eyes well up. “Well…bye.”

The door clicked shut, and Elsa crumpled onto her bed. With a shaking hand, she reached out and picked up the notebook lying on the table. She carefully slid a loose piece of paper out, and clutched it in trembling pale fingers, stroking over the smiling faces in the photograph.

How hadn’t she noticed it sooner? This photo made it so painfully obvious. Her supposed mother and father, each of them with one arm wrapped around each other and the other draped over a grinning Anna’s shoulders…and just to the side, Elsa herself, arms folded neatly in front of her, a carefully structured smile forced onto her lips. She looked so… different. Separate. Her platinum blonde hair and pale colouring were a painful contrast to the warm hues of the Arendelle family, the literal gap between her and her so-called ‘family’ – they had hated her, they had feared her.

Cobalt blue eyes blurred with tears that had remained unshed for the last few months. She flipped the paper over, and allowed herself a teary smile.

Similar to the previous photo, it showed a family of two siblings and their parents. But this couldn’t be more different to the Arendelle’s picture if it tried. Where the Arendelle’s was taken in a studio by a professional, this one was far more natural, grainy from the poor quality camera and their relaxed poses made it seem as if it had been snatched straight from real life.

A large portion of the photograph was taken up by the wide figure of a bearded man, who cut an intimidating figure with the muscled arms covered with tattoos of words too blurry to make out. But his mouth quirked up at the corner, and his blue eyes glittered with fatherly joy as he gazed down at the children.  
The woman’s eyes were also fixated on their children as she rested her head on the man’s shoulder. Whilst he was tall and burly, she appeared to be short and petite, from her tiny clasped hands around her husband’s arm to the slender body adorned in varying shades of green, yellow and blue. Her brown hair was streaked with brilliant colours, and her features were elfin and achingly beautiful.

Elsa’s attention moved to the children, a boy and his younger sister. The girl had her mother’s dark brown hair, and matching warm chocolate eyes, which were gazing adoringly upwards at her brother. She seemed to radiate happiness, and reminded Elsa heavily of Anna.

Her brother had his arms wrapped around her, his mouth open comically as she pulled him down to the floor. He seemed to have inherited his father’s bright blue eyes, and his snowy white hair was thrown out in several directions as he fell, giving him the uncanny appearance of a surprised starfish. Despite that, Elsa could tell he was pretty good-looking. He seemed to share the family trait of carefree happiness, and was clearly his sister’s hero.

Underneath, in an uncharacteristically messy scrawl, Elsa had written a few names, and three world-shattering words.

 _North, Jino, Emma, Jack_  
_My real family._

* * *

“Are you ready, Elsa?” The two girls stood side by side, staring up at their new home. Aunt Primrose had insisted on dressing them as formally as possible, much to Anna’s misery. The dresses fell almost to their knees, and Rapunzel had been overjoyed with her task of doing their hair, intricate braids crisscrossing the former sisters’ heads.

The house itself was fairly impressive… some might even say intimidating. Elsa was no stranger to large homes; she herself had spent almost all her life inside the Arendelle’s family home of a converted castle. But this house was more than just large: it dominated the entirety of the surrounding landscape, towering over the rows of tiny building just behind it and glowing with light streaming out of every window.

“I’m going to miss you guys.” A soft voice tore Elsa from her awestruck assessment of the building, and she looked behind her to see her cousin, tears in her eyes and golden hair tucked firmly into a thick plait. “It’s been nice to have someone my own age around.” She sniffed, and smiled tentatively “I’ll still see you at school though, right?”

Anna shot forward, throwing her arms around their tearful cousin. Anna’s hugs could be a little…eager, and Elsa was impressed that Rapunzel even managed to stay on her feet. “Yes, and we’ll have sleepovers all the time, and Skype, and text, and – “

“Enough, Anna.” Elsa pulled the redhead off Rapunzel, and nodded to her. “Thank you for having us, Aunt Primrose, Uncle Thomas. It’s been lovely staying with you.”

The blonde raised one perfect eyebrow, clearly not buying the weak pretence of Elsa being all right. She reached out, and gently hugged the girl. “Good luck, and don’t forget that you’re always welcome with us.”

No one voiced the clear message in those words. _You’re always welcome with us… if something goes wrong_.

“Thank you, and – “ Elsa was cut off by the front door being thrown open, and four people rolling out, each popping out like corks from a bottle, as if they’d been shoving to get out first. They got to their feet, brushed off the dirt, and slowly looked at each other. “Um, hello?”

Four heads jerked in her direction simultaneously, and they each flashed her a grin. The first to approach her was the boy, who was quickly shoved out of the way by the large man cloaked in a thick red coat. “Hey, Dad!”

“Shut up Jack.” Elsa was surprised at how strong the Russian accent was, before straightening up again when the man turned back to her. “Ah, Elsa, yes? Welcome to North Pole! Good trip? I do not drive myself. Last time I did, children died!” That made Elsa back away pretty fast.

“North, you’re scaring her.” The tiny woman from the photo appeared at his side, smiling kindly at the three girls. “Hello sweetie. It’s so great to see you, and…?”

“I’m Anna, her sister. Well, not her _real_ sister, but – “ she trailed off slowly, looking at the four blank faces in front of her. Elsa’s heart ached for the girl when she saw the forlorn expression she wore, but felt some sort of bitter joy from the fact that for once, _Anna_ was the one being left out. But even if the redhead wasn’t biologically related to her, she’d been there for her for twelve years, and was probably the only person Elsa really cared about.

“Uhh…well, it’s lovely to meet you Anna. I’m Jino, but you can just call me Tooth. Everyone else does.” Anna smiled gratefully, and accepted Tooth’s handshake. “Oh, where are my manners? This is my husband, North, and our children, Jack and Emma.” She gestured behind her, to the boy and girl Elsa recognized from the photo. Well, the girl at least… “Wait, where’s Jack?”

“Putting snow down North’s coat.”

“Emma! You tattletale!” Jack brought his handful of snow away from his father’s neck, instead sprinkling it over his shrieking sister’s head. “That could have finally put me ahead again on the leaderboard.”

“Ha, you will never beat me! I am king of pranks!” North grinned widely, and Jack stuck his tongue out in retaliation.

“Yes, whilst North may be an adult, he’ll always be a kid at heart.” Tooth sighed, and grabbed the back of her son’s shirt as he tried to sneak off again. “And Jack here might just be the most immature fifteen-year-old I know.”

“Immature? I’m wounded Mother!” He held out a pale white hand to Elsa. “Jackson Frost Overland, at your service.”

“Frost Overland? I thought you were just the Overlands?” She shook his hand, and was surprised that it was just as cold, if not colder, as her own.

“Yeah, we are. But North and Tooth had a little bit of fun with our middle names. Emma has it worse. Hers is Gination.” Emma pouted up at her big brother, who just laughed again.

“Gination? I don’t get it.”

“Emma Gination? Like imagination? Don’t blame me, I don’t know what these two were smoking when they came up with _that_.”

“Give over, Jack. Take this seriously.” Tooth said, laying a hand on his arm. North just nodded, and flashed a grin towards Elsa, before mouthing _I think they are_ good _names_.

Right, that’s it. This family was officially crazy.

“Well, I think it’s time we left.” Aunt Primrose said, clapping her hands together. “Come on Rapunzel. Into the car.” She turned, and smiled softly at her two nieces. “We’ll see you soon, ok girls?” Her eyes flicked nervously to North and Tooth. “If that’s all right…”

“Of course!” North barged past his wife, and wrapped his arms around a surprised Aunt Primrose. “You are family! Family is always welcome at North Pole!”

Elsa had to cover her mouth to disguise the giggle that bubbled up when she saw the looks on Thomas and Primrose’s faces. They were clearly terrified of spending another moment with this certifiably insane family, but were determinedly trying to mask it with polite interest. “Ah, yes. Maybe we will visit sometime soon… Rapunzel, into the car!”

“Fine, fine… see you soon guys. Try not to miss me _too_ much.” Rapunzel pulled them both into a three-person hug, and they waved until the grey car had disappeared into the distance.

“So, Elsa…” The blonde looked over her shoulder, and felt her cold heart warm just a little at the sight of the four of them smiling at her.

“I can’t believe it’s actually you!” Tooth threw her arms around her, and buried her face in Elsa’s shoulder. “My little girl…”

“Now we can be proper family again!” North said, joining the hug.

“Awesome.” Jack pulled Emma along with him to wriggle into the embrace. Elsa wasn’t sure if he intended to hear him mutter: “I finally got you back.”

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2 - Jack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is set a year after the first chapter, so Elsa and Jack are now sixteen. They meet Hiccup for the first time, and Jack is less than smooth. Yaks incoming.

( **One year later** )

Jack groaned dramatically as he fumbled blindly for the snooze button of his alarm clock, the incessant beeping worming its way into his head. He finally managed to smack it to the floor, and sunk his face into his pillow, revelling in the once more peaceful silence. Maybe if he could just snatch a few more minutes’ sleep, school would just go away…

“Hey, Frosty! Get ready, _now_. You’re not gonna mess up the first day back for me this year.” He looked towards the door to see Elsa, fully dressed and wearing her usual morning frown, leaning against the doorframe, her long blonde plait lolling lazily on her shoulder. “Jack? Are you going to put some clothes on, or…?”

“What, with you watching? At least look away, you perv!” He smirked in triumph when Elsa’s usually pale face blushed darkly, and wiggled his eyebrows when she looked back at him.

“Ahem… well, I’ll go downstairs then.” She turned to go, before glancing over her shoulder and calling back to her brother. “Just try to resist the urge to wear that lovely dress of yours. Although the colour really brought out your eyes…”

She disappeared down the stairs, and Jack, blushing furiously, rushed to the door and yelled after her. “That was one time, and it was just for a dare!”

His only answer was tinkling laughter, and a faint reply of, “We have photos!”

Muttering darkly to himself, he retreated back into the cool blues of his room, and started to rummage through his wardrobe. Pointedly ignoring the infamous dress hanging at the far end, he started pulling out different combinations of clothes, and throwing them over his shoulder. In the end, he settled for his usual blue hoodie and brown pants that he’d owned for so long, they’d begun to fray, and were admittedly getting a little tight. He wiggled his toes sadly, wishing that shoes weren’t a necessity. But another yell from Elsa had him pulling on the closest pair of sneakers, grabbing his bag, and whirling out of the door.

Goodbye, summer. Farewell freedom.

* * *

“Argh, it’s been less than half a day, and I’m already dying!”

“Potatoes, sweetie?”

“No thanks.” Jack scooted his tray along, and muttered into his sister’s ear. “Not really in the mood for choking down lukewarm sludge.”

“Well, if you could be bothered to make your own lunch in the mornings instead of leaving everything to the last minute…” Elsa didn’t even look up from the book she was reading, gracefully dodging around the various people milling around in the cafeteria.

“Yeah, yeah, point made. But hey, at least the cake’s good, right?”

They continued the light-hearted bickering until they reached the table surrounded by their friends. Rapunzel quickly scooted up to let them in, and gave Elsa a quick hug around the shoulders. “How was your summer?”

“You should know, you were there for most of it.” Elsa snapped the book shut, and slipped it into her bag, finally looking up at her friends.

“Yeah, but I’ve been in Germany for two weeks, and I missed you guys!” Everyone smiled warmly at the blonde; all except for the mess of red curls resting on the table. A groan sounded, followed by an irritated grunt when Jack reached out and tugged at the locks.

“I want summer back!” Merida whined, looking up with a miserable expression. “What the hell was that Maths lesson? How do I – “

She probably kept moaning, but Jack stopped paying attention the moment the door swung open. Two people walked in, a tall girl and a thin boy. The girl was alright, he supposed. She looked quite similar to Elsa in the purely objective facts that she had blonde hair in a tight plait, and blue eyes. She was fairly pretty, and seemed to be laughing at whatever the boy had said. Now, the boy on the other hand…

“He’s cute.”

Jack’s head jerked to the side, and looked at his sister in shock. “ _Excuse_ me?”

“What? I said he was cute. Is there a problem with that?” Elsa was slowly turning pink, and refused to meet anyone’s eye.

“Yes! Yes there is!”

“Well, what is it then?”

“That’s what I was thinking! And I saw him first, so I call dibs!”

The rest of the table was watching the exchange like a tennis match, and Merida sniggered slightly. “Aw man, this is gonna be fun…”

Elsa crossed her arms, lips going into the familiar tight straight line. “You can’t call dibs on a _person_ , Jack. Anyway, it’s not like I was saying that I wanted to date him or anything, I was merely observing – “

“So, you’d have no problem with me snatching him up? Because damn, would I like to – “

“Jack!” Elsa flicked him on the nose, eyes glinting, but not with malice or hurt. It was the look she got when she occasionally agreed to play video games with her brother, or when someone got a higher grade than her.

Elsa was cool, calm and collected, but God was she competitive.

“Who even is that?” Ted leaned back in his seat, trying to get a better look. “I’ve never seen that guy before in my life.”

“That’s Hiccup.” Everyone turned to look at Rapunzel, who shrugged nonchalantly. “What? He takes food class too.”

“Hiccup? Is that even a real name?” Flynn said, rolling his eyes. “Isn’t that like naming your kid ‘Annoying Eye Twitch’ or something?”

“His actual name is Hikke, but that pretty much translates to Hiccup, so that’s what everyone calls him. He’s from Norway, but he moved here to live with his dad, and…” she trailed off when she saw that everyone was staring at her. “What? We talked a load in class, alright? His English is surprisingly good.” She pointed to the girl next to him, who was clearly showing him something on her phone. “She’s Astrid, she’s just moved too. Their families are super close, so she’s staying with him until her parents can come over to join her. I haven’t met her in person, but Hiccup said she’s super nice.”

The whole table winced as Astrid punched Hiccup playfully in the shoulder, sending him reeling a few steps backwards. “Nice?” Jack repeated skeptically. “She looks terrifying.”

Hiccup glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes locked onto the table of people blatantly staring at him. All of them coughed nervously, and looked away, Jack stealing a few sneaky looks. Hiccup turned back to Astrid, made a few random hand gestures, and pointed to their table. _Oh, great. I haven’t even spoken to him, and he’s already labelled us as nutjobs._

“Hey Rapunzel.” A slightly nasally voice made them look up, and Jack’s breath caught in his throat when he realised just how close he was to Hiccup. “Would you mind if, uh… we’re kind of new… could we…”

“What this dork is trying to say is, would you mind if we sat with you? We don’t really know anyone around here, but Hic recognized you from his finger-painting class or whatever.” Astrid was clearly the one with all the confidence, but if anything, Hiccup being a walking ball of awkwardness just added to the adorableness.

“Sure, that should be fine. We’ve got room for two more, right guys?” Merida nodded, and budged up to make some space. Astrid sat, and Hiccup went to sit next to her, before Jack made his first super smooth move.

“NO, SIT HERE.” He said loudly, practically jumping onto Elsa to make room for the boy. The whole group looked at him strangely, and he shrugged, trying to come up with a way for him to seem normal again. “Uh, don’t want to squish Mer too much, right?”

“Okay then.” Hiccup slid in beside him, the limited space meaning that his leg and arm were now pressed against Jack’s. The white-haired boy couldn’t help the wide smile, and struggled to keep it contained and not look like a total psycho. Again.

“Well, these are my friends. Guys, this is Hiccup, and I’m assuming you’re Astrid?” The girl nodded, and waved to the rest of the group.

“Merida.”  
“I’m Anna!”  
“Ted, nice to meet you.”  
“Name’s Flynn”  
“I’m Elsa, welcome to the school.”

_This is it Jack. Show just how suave you can be._ He knew exactly what he wanted to say. But somehow, ‘ _The name’s Jack, and how you doing, gorgeous?_ ’ came out as a very attractive: “Mmmmm, yaks are hot.”

“I’m sorry?” Jack could feel his face turning bright red, and Elsa snickering behind him. Hiccup just looked confused, and Astrid was staring at him slightly worriedly. “What was that about yaks?”

“I, um – “Jack cleared his throat, and glared at his sister. “- I said my name is Jack.”  

“Oh, cool.” They fell into an awkward silence, eventually filled by Flynn turning to Astrid, and trying to strike up a conversation.

“So, are you two together?” OK, maybe Flynn should just not be let anywhere near anyone Jack was interested in. Or anyone, full stop. He had next to no subtlety.

“What, us?” The two looked at each other, and burst out laughing. “No, not even close. Dating him would be like going out with my brother. Nah, I’m way too far out of Dorkcup’s league.”

“Oh really? That’s not what you were saying last year, dear Astrid…” Hiccup rested his chin on his hand, leaning towards his friend. “Admittedly, you weren’t saying much last year. Too busy locking lips with this hot piece of manliness over here.”

Astrid didn’t even hesitate, just reached over and punched him on the shoulder. “Kiss your best friend _one_ time, and he never lets you forget it.”

“On the contrary, young lady, there were at least four separate incidences – “

“Do you want me to tell them about that time with Dagur?”

“Consider the topic dropped.” They seemed to remember the rest of them only then, and grinned back at their bemused faces. Jack’s heart melted a little when he saw the slightly crooked teeth in Hiccup’s otherwise perfect smile.

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch break. “See you after school, Jack.” Elsa said, ruffling his white locks as she moved away. He wasn’t prepared for her to lean down and mutter in his ear. “If that’s what I’m up against, this should be a cinch.”

Jack watched her retreating back, her words having sparked a quickly formulating idea in his head. He grinned to no one in particular, and muttered as he swung his bag onto his shoulder. “Mer was right… this _is_ going to be fun.”

* * *

 “So, Snowy, I was thinking…”

“That’s dangerous.” Elsa didn’t even stop, just carried on walking towards the school gates. Jack had to jog to catch up, the wind ruffling the messy strands of his hair.

“…I was thinking about Hiccup – “he continued, and she glanced over at him, a tiny smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.

“What, and how else you can embarrass yourself in front of him?” Jack pouted, and she stopped, leaning against the bus shelter they’d finally reached. “Jack, if it was anyone else, I’d be super supportive and all of that. But given that I like him just as much as you…”

“…that’s what I was thinking about!” Jack said, brightening up considerably. “I sat next to Astrid in Chemistry, and managed to get some pretty useful information from her. First off, he's bi. Second, and this is the kicker, he's single. What better way to decide which of us gets him than a little friendly competition? Whoever gets him to fall for them first gets the guy.”

“Competition? Jack, I don’t know…” She looked at him dubiously, struggling to ignore his puppy eyes. “Hiccup’s a person, not a prize. It’s not really fair on him.”

“Hiccup doesn’t have to know!” He looked pleadingly at his sister. “Come on, it’s not like we’re doing anything to hurt him… and if you win – which you won’t – I promise I’ll never mention this ever again. Please Elsa? It’s the only fair way to do this, and it’s going to be Hiccup choosing, not either of us. Alright?”

 Elsa hesitated for a second, before nodding slowly. “Ok. But no cheating or anything, and whoever he chooses, we accept that, agreed?”

“Agreed.” Jack smiled, and nudged his sister playfully. “But you are going down, you know that, right Snowy?”

“Oh, bring it on Frosty. I can handle you and your yak kink.”

“What… oh, I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”

* * *

 


	3. Chapter 3 - Hiccup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little longer than the other two. I apologise if there's a load of mistakes, or if it's terrible, I've had literally no sleep this week, a ton of tests and my brain has gone very fuzzy.   
> I am trying to do a weekly updating, so every Tuesday. See you next week!

“You told him _what_?”

Astrid stirred her hot chocolate absentmindedly, completely unaffected by her best friend both yelling and glaring at her accusingly. “I don’t see the problem. It’s true, isn’t it? What, are you ashamed of it or something?”

“Astrid, we are in a _different country_. We don’t know what their attitudes towards people like me are, and if my father’s anything to go by, they’re not great!” Long fingers ran through floppy hair, green eyes glittering with anxiety. Astrid gently set the spoon down, and, seeing how genuinely upset her friend was, reached over and squeezed his hand.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Jack didn’t even seem that bothered by it. In fact, he looked _happy_ about it.” Hiccup looked up, brow furrowed as it did when he got confused. “I think he likes you.” She said matter-of-factly, and smirked at Hiccup’s inevitable spluttering response.

“Wh-what? N-no, he doesn’t. Why w-would you think that?”

“Oh, sorry, where were you at lunch? It’s pretty clear he’s got a bad case of the stuttering crush for you, just like you in eighth grade.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes, and pulled his hand away. “Har-de-har, very funny.” He shook a fist at his friend in mock warning. “That still doesn’t excuse you spilling my personal information. You’re just lucky that he’s not anything like Dad.”

“I thought you said Stoick was alright with you batting for both teams?”

“Yeah, I thought he was too.” Hiccup sighed, rippling the surface of his own warm drink. “Let’s just say, he’s aware I’m batting for both, but wants me to drop one and stick with his own preference.”

“Ah…” they fell into a companionable silence, sipping slowly at the chocolatey drink and letting it warm their insides. Toothless padded along the counter to join them, wrapping himself around Hiccup’s shoulders and purring happily into his collar. “You spoil that cat, you really do. Look how fat he’s getting! Might as well rename him Useless and let him live the rest of his life as a glorified cushion.”

“I’m sorry, but don’t insult my pet!” Hiccup raised his hand and scratched behind Toothless’ head, evoking a continuous, happy purr. The cat nuzzled into the touch, and sent Astrid a smug look. “You don’t hear me being rude to Stormfly, do you?”

Astrid glanced upwards, thinking of the little bearded dragon waiting for her up in the guest room. “Fair enough. When’s Stoick getting back?”

“Next Wednesday.” Hiccup pushed off the counter, heading back into the kitchen, Toothless still curled around his neck like some weird scarf. “He’s doing a really great job at this whole bonding thing, isn’t he?”

Astrid bit her lip, not wanting to seem rude towards the man putting a roof over her head, but also agreeing wholeheartedly with Hiccup. “He’s trying his best.”

“I’ve been trying my best my whole life, and all that got me was a dead mother, distant father and a school full of people who just wanted me gone.” He replied bitterly, before catching himself too late. “Sorry. I guess this is just a little stressful. I didn’t mean to take it out on you, none of this is your fault.”

“Aw, Hiccy…” she got up and followed him into the kitchen. She gently wrapped her arms around him, letting him rest his head on her shoulder. Toothless glared at Astrid, but rubbed his head against the underside of his owner’s chin in an effort to comfort him. “We don’t blame you for being a little grumpy. Hell, if this was anyone else, they’d have lost it _years_ ago. But you’re strong, Hikke. You’ve been through more shit than anyone else I know, and you came out of it still fighting. I wish I could be like you…”

He pulled away, eyes glistening a little, but a small smile replacing the frown from a few minutes ago. “Don’t let anyone else hear you say that. They’ll think you’ve gone soft.”

“Me? Go soft? You wish, Haddock. I’m tougher than old boots, me.”

They laughed, and Toothless meowed along with them, playing with the stray strand of hair that stuck out at the back of Hiccup’s head. “But seriously Astrid? Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Probably end up living sad and alone with nothing but that fat cat to keep you company.” Toothless hissed venomously at her, and promptly fell off Hiccup’s shoulder and into the cradle of his arms. “See what I mean? You need to get that thing a personal trainer or something, before he eats himself to death.”

“Toothless is only _large_ because Mum kept feeding him…” The name hung in the air, threatening to wreck Hiccup’s mood once again. He shook it off, and continued, a pained smile fixed on his face. “He’s probably going to get thinner pretty damn quick now I’m living with Dad – he hates cats, and he’s refusing to buy any food for Toothless. And, quite frankly, the pathetic amount of money I’ve saved is not going to keep him going much longer.” The cat made a disgruntled sound, his thin mouth contorting into what almost looked like a pout. “Greedy cat… I’ll smuggle you some tuna later.”

A knock at the door made both look up, and then at each other. “Who’s that?”

“It can’t be Dad, he’s not due back for days. We don’t know anyone else, do we?”

Another, more insistent knock made Hiccup gently set Toothless down, and stride over to the door. He took a deep breath and opened it up to see…

“Jack?”

“What?” Astrid joined him at his side, and sure enough, the white-haired boy was grinning back at them. Toothless rubbed himself around Hiccup’s ankles, eyeing the stranger cautiously.

“Yes! I finally found you!” Hiccup looked accusingly at his friend, who shook her head and shrugged. _Nothing to do with me_. Jack, on the other hand, turned and yelled down their path. “It is them! See, I _told_ you it was this house!”

Elsa and Anna popped out from behind a bush, and made their way over to the surprised two standing in the doorway. “Hello, Hiccup, Astrid. Nice to see you again.”

“Uhm… you too, I guess…” Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I’m sorry, but why are you here? It’s great you're here, don’t get me wrong, but how did you know where I lived?”

Both Elsa and Anna looked at Jack, who blushed furiously, and stuttered out a reply. “Well… Astrid mentioned you lived in DuBlois, and – “

“DuBlois is a pretty big place.” Astrid said, cutting him off. “And it’s not like this house is obvious or anything…”

“What, did you go along knocked on every door until you found us or something?” Hiccup wasn’t expecting Jack to flush even darker, and nod slowly. Wait, _what_? “Are you serious?”

“Not _every_ house!” Jack said defensively, only for Elsa to snort and roll her eyes.

“Told you that it would freak him out.” She nudged her brother out of the way, to stand directly in front of Hiccup, who was starting to get just a tiny bit weirded out by these people. Was _everyone_ in this town like this? “Sorry, we just wanted to come see if you wanted to do something together. Unless you two are busy, in which case…”

“No, no, we’re free.” Astrid said, winking at Hiccup when he looked back at her with wide eyes. It was proving surprisingly difficult for him to convey the message of: _What are you doing, these people are clearly nutcases, do not invite them into our house_ when said nutcases were looking expectantly at him.

“Uh, ha ha, sure! What did you have in mind?” He winced when he felt Toothless sit firmly on his right foot, clearly not about to let his owner leave him.

“Well, Jack’s plan didn’t really get any further than just finding you, so we haven’t really thought of anything.” Elsa played idly with the end of her plait, the same way Hiccup fiddled with the back of his mop of hair when he got nervous.

“Why don’t you come in then?” Hiccup said, and both of the twins’ faces brightened. Even Anna, who’d been standing awkwardly in the background until then, grinned happily at the thought of finally sitting down. “Um, well, in you come then!”

A few minutes later, they were sat around Hiccup’s kitchen table, sipping at steaming mugs of hot chocolate and nibbling at biscuits. “Your house is pretty nice, Hiccup.” Elsa said, smiling warmly at the boy, who returned it, grateful for the conversation to break the silence.

“Thanks… it’s my dad’s. It’s way bigger than any of the ones back in Berk, which isn’t saying much, because those were essentially shacks. Whereabouts do you guys live then?”

“The North Pole”

“Of course you do.” Seriously, was nothing about them normal? Not that he could say much, but really… “Surely that’s a little bit cold?”

“Oh, no, that’s just North’s name for it. It’s our house, in the woods on the outskirts of Burgess. You’ll have to come over some time!” Elsa looked at him hopefully, and he couldn’t help smiling back.

“Yeah, that sounds great.” He pulled out his phone, and looked expectantly back up at her. “Could I have the address? I wouldn’t want to have to go along your road knocking on _every door_.” Jack winced at that, which made Hiccup feel a little bad. Maybe he should tone it down a little, these people weren’t really used to his sense of humour yet. “Well, no harm done. As long as none of the neighbours got mad…”

“No, no, I was super polite!” Jack’s smile was back, as bright as before. “I complimented one guy on his beard, I – “

“Which guy was that?”

“He lives two doors down from you, but – “

“Jack, that’s a woman.”

“Ooohhh…” there was a moment’s hesitation, then the whole room collapsed into laughter. At least Elsa and Hiccup had the decency to try to cover it up; Anna and Astrid, on the other hand, had no reservations whatsoever, and almost fell over in hysterics, laughing until tears were running down their cheeks. Even Jack managed to crack a grin at his own expense, and raised his hands in surrender.

“What? It was a pretty spectacular goatee.”

* * *

“He _definitely_ likes you.”

“Oh, shut up.”

The Overland/Arendelle family had only just left, and Hiccup pushed away from the door, Astrid following him as he went back into the living room and slumped down onto the sofa. Toothless retook his seat on his lap, and the brunette absentmindedly started to run his hands down the silky black fur, humming to himself, as if trying to block Astrid out. Not that it would have stopped her, but it was worth a try. “Don’t deny it Hic! And I wouldn’t be surprised if that twin of his does too. They were both making heart-eyes at you all the way throughout whatever that awkward talk thing was.”

“So what if either of them like me? What do you want me to do about it?”

“Oh, I don’t know, try dating one of them? You need to get yourself out there, Hics! You can’t stay single forever!”

“I can, and I will.” He let his head fall back into the cushion, sighing dramatically. “I’ve already tried dating, and we both saw how that turned out. Quite frankly, anyone that likes me must be either blind or stupid.”

“Well, I can certainly vouch for Jack being stupid…” Astrid muttered, before hastily correcting herself when Hiccup looked over at her triumphantly. “…but that’s not the point! At least _try_ asking someone out!”

“Fine.” He sat up, and leaned on one elbow, looking straight at her. “Astrid, will you go out with me?”

“What? No!”

“Oh, ok then. I tried asking someone out, _now_ will you get off my back?”

“Hiccup!” He burst out laughing, and slowly got to his feet, brushing the cat hair off his jeans, Toothless having rolled onto a sofa cushion that he was now viciously attacking. Huh, must’ve smelt like eels.

“Conversation over, Astrid. I’m going up to my room, see you later.”

As he made his way up the stairs, he was suddenly aware of his left leg wobbling violently. He stopped halfway up, but when he looked down to see what the problem was, the foot gave out completely, sending him tumbling down the stairs.

“Hiccup!” Astrid all but leapt over the back of the sofa, sliding to a stop next to the limp figure of her best friend. He sat up, and groaned.

“Ow…” Rubbing the back of his head, he glanced down at his left leg again. Where the foot would usually meet the ankle, there was only a stump. “Where did my prosthetic go?”

A meow announced Toothless’ presence, the cat sitting smugly next to the discarded limb. “Oh, thank you Toothless.”

“What the hell happened there?” Astrid’s voice was still a little bit too high with worry, as she passed him the prosthetic, which he checked over for faults.

“I’ve got a screw loose.” He said calmly, and righted the faulty joint before reattaching it to his leg. He looked up when Astrid snorted, eyebrow raised in question.

“You _definitely_ have a screw loose, you nutcase.” He grinned along with her, then winced when her punch almost took off his arm. “Don’t scare me like that again, loser.”

“Okay, okay, please don’t kill me.” She helped him to his feet, and he gingerly tested out the left foot. “I’m fine. No need to worry, Astrid.”

“There’s always need to worry with you, Fishbone.”

* * *

 The next day of school went by pretty uneventfully… until it came to art. Hiccup came in a little late, ducking his head in apology to Mrs. Smith. There was only one seat left, and Hiccup allowed himself an inward groan when he saw who he’s be sitting next to.

Jack _and_ Elsa.

“The gods must hate me…” he muttered as he sat down, smiling to the twins now sitting on either side of him. They must have planned this. Exactly what did he do to deserve this?

“Hey Hiccup.” Elsa said, smiling sweetly. “Looks like we’re partners.” He didn’t miss the smug look she sent past him to her brother, or the scowl he gave in return. Seriously, what was their problem?

“Yeah, I guess.” He pulled out his sketchbook, and nodded to the redhead next to Jack. “Hey Merida…Merida?”

“She’s asleep.” Jack said calmly, poking her in the face and grinning back at the confused Hiccup. “She sucks at drawing anyway, it’s probably best she doesn’t touch this project.”

The project in question was written neatly in Elsa’s notebook, and she smiled proudly when Hiccup complimented how organised she seemed to be. “So, what do you want to do? I have to admit, I’m not too great an artist. I can do sort of pattern stuff, but – “

“Hey, that sounds great!” Hiccup smiled, a million ideas sparking in his mind. “I like drawing fantasy sorts of things… would that be alright, could we mix those together?”

They spent the rest of the lesson coming up with various designs, and what had started up as a polite discussion about the work turned into a friendly chat, where Elsa seemed to open up a lot more than her cold disposition would have suggested. Hiccup was surprised when the bell interrupted their fascinating conversation about ice cream, the lesson having passed far quicker than he thought it would.

“We’ll have to meet up at some point to finish this, right?” Hiccup scooped up his pens scattered over the table, just missing Elsa’s excited grin and Jack’s smile fading. “This was fun. See you soon?”

“You’re sweet, Hic.” She bent down to where Hiccup was leaning across the desk, trying to reach his pencil. She swiftly planted a kiss on his cheek, and was out of the room before he could stand up properly.

“Uh…” He looked up, glancing to his friends for answers. “What – hey, Jack, are you all right?”

Jack’s blue eyes looked at him almost as if he’d betrayed him, and when Hiccup tried to reach out to comfort him, he jerked away. He let out what sounded like a sob, before running out of the door after his sister.

“What was all that about?” Merida looked at him blankly, spitting a curl out of her mouth from where it had fallen in during her hour-long nap.

“Huh?” Hiccup rolled his eyes, and shrugged his bag onto his shoulder. “What happened?”

“Nothing, it doesn’t matter.”

Because it didn’t, did it? That was probably just how girls like Elsa said goodbye to their friends, right? It didn’t mean anything. There wasn’t a chance that Elsa could… no. _You’re not going down that route again, Haddock,_ he thought to himself as he strode down the corridor, looking in all directions for Jack. Nothing good can come of obsessing over every single little thing people do, he concluded, running his hand through his hair. _You’re not going to ruin this by being your usual weird self_.

* * *

 


End file.
